How to Sing Cutie Panther
by Picup
Summary: Maki has a problem singing one of BiBi's songs and everyone else is unsure of how to help her. Rin, however, has a plan up her sleeve. One that involves a certain rice-loving best friend.


been years since I've published something, so have some cute idol girls with a side of MakiPana and dashes of KotoUmi and EliNozo(Nico?!) (reading effect may be enhanced if listening to Cutie Panther?!)

* * *

 _"I'm a cutie panther, following you wherever you go..."_

Brown eyes narrows slightly, sweeping across the stage of the auditorium that a subunit of Muse was using for practice. Muse decided to split up into three different subunits to further promote their idol group and spread their name to more crowds. These subunits were lily white, printemps, and the ever popular, BiBi. Each subunit had their own songs and their own lives. This made the work for Umi (being the lyricist) especially hard, but it was fulfilling.

She was asked by the leader of BiBi, Ayase Eli, to sit in on one of their rehearsals for an upcoming live. There was something missing in a specific song, and the blonde couldn't exactly put her finger on it, so she asked the blue-haired lyricist for help.

Umi watches BiBi sing the song that is giving them the most trouble intently. She feels a shift next to her, "Umi-chan, do you see it too?" a hush voice asks. Umi meets Kotori's gaze with a somewhat troubling stare and only nods in response.

 _"I'll steal your heart away, just you watch..."_

Kotori was also asked by Eli to watch their performance. As the ex-choreographer of Muse, she might be able to spot something that Eli wouldn't be able to see during rehearsals. The pair finishes watching BiBi in silence, before they approach the stage, handing each of them a bottle of cool water. Kotori is first to say something, smiling as always, "Good work!"

Eli and Maki nod in response and take a moment to drain some of the cold liquid down. Nico sweeps the sweat off her brow with her arm as she looks at the two. "Did we get it this time?" She asks impatiently. They have been practicing 'Cutie Panther' for hours on end, and it was starting to get annoying.

Maki snorts a reply after finishing at least half of her water. "By the look on Umi's face, we're not." Umi could feel everyone's gaze fall upon her, making her blink in surprise. "Umi? What was the problem?" Eli asks quietly. There was a problem and they have to fix it before their Live.

However, the response-or rather lack of from the blue-haired lyricist catches them off guard. Instead, Umi's face turns a tinge of red, as she mumbles something quietly. Nico's eyes narrow, "Umi, we can't hear you!" She demands, but gets another mumble in response. Umi shifts closer to Kotori, who laughs softly.

"That's okay, Umi-chan." Kotori says quietly to Umi, rubbing her shoulder comfortingly, before turning her gaze to the others. "Umi-chan and I drew the same conclusion, but Maki-chan." The redhead gives a weary look at the ashen grey girl when she calls her.

"You're not sexy enough."

An awkward silence quickly settles and it takes a good five seconds before all hell breaks loose. Maki is choking on her water; Nico is barreling with laughter on the hardwood of the auditorium stage and Umi breaks down on the ground, hands over her head and her face a bright red, mumbling about how she couldn't believe Kotori convinced her to write those lyrics.

Eli is blinking a little, a thoughtful look on her face. "I... I didn't realize that..." She whispers. Kotori catches onto her words and nods. "It's hard to catch on at first, but we both realized it near the end of the song, at Maki-chan's last solo." She explains before bending down to rub Umi's back and tries to convince her to come back to the rest of them.

"I-I-I can't believe that's what we were missing... I-I-I should have figured it would be Maki not being s-s-sexy enough!" Nico is saying in between the heaps of laughter from the ground. She grunts and wipes away a tear as Eli kicks her firmly in the ribs to make her stop. Both of them look at Maki, whose face was almost as red as her hair, but her violet eyes were almost brimming in anger.

"W-W-What does having to be sexy do with this song?!"

"I-It's everything!" Kotori shouts, standing up as she pulls the lyrics out from her pocket. She starts to tap the side of the paper, emphasizing the lyrics with her explanation. "It's a serious song about trying to get the one you love to look at you amongst the others that are taking her away!"

"K-K-Kotori?!" Umi squeaks from her crouched position on the ground. Kotori never mentioned to her that was what 'Cutie Panther' was about when they worked together to write the song. She just suggested that they write something a bit... _risqué_ (although, everything in relation to love was risqué to Umi) since at least one of the subunits of Muse should sing something like that.

Maki, however, narrows her eyes at Kotori. "I-I-If you say it like that, then this song is about you and U-" before she can even finish her sentence, Kotori slaps her hand over Maki's mouth. "You need to be sexy, Maki-chan!" She says and diverts the topic that Maki tries to bring up even though the blush on her face doesn't hide it very well. After a brief struggle, Kotori removes her hand and gives her a pointed look to discourage her from bringing up the previous topic. At the look, Maki keeps her mouth shut with a slight huff.

Her violet eyes flicker slightly, looking at Nico and Eli who were laughing at Kotori's antics. "And, if I'm not s-sexy... how do you two..." She trails off, her face still red as her hair and her eyes fall to the ground, not able to look at either of them. Before Eli can even think about the question, Nico already answers. "Easy."

Nico puffs her chest out in pride with a huge grin on her face. "I'm _naturally_ a great actress, and Eli just envisions trying to capture Nozomi or something. So either bring out your acting skills or visualize yourself stalking your _love_ of your life or whatever it is." She lectures with pride, happy for finally having the upper hand on Maki for once.

Eli groans as she tries to hide her red face from the younger Muse members. She should have kicked Nico harder earlier and left her on the stage.

* * *

Umi stares blankly at the papers in front of her. She left the BiBi practice early because of obligations to her own subunit, lily white. They were in the midst of planning for their own live and were going over the set list and costumes. "Umi-chan? Is everything okay?" The blue haired lyricist snaps her head up as her name is called. Brown eyes meets emerald that has a hint of confusion and concern for the lyricist. Umi laughs nervously, "E-Everything is okay!"

"It doesn't look like it, nya..." Rin chimes in from her seat next to Umi. The ginger haired girl tilts her head so she could meet with Umi's gaze. "Umi-chan, nya? Did something happen today?" She asks curiously, pale yellow blinking.

Umi shakes her head in response. "I was helping Eli today with their rehearsal and there was a... slight problem..." She trails off a little, her cheeks heating up. Rin and Nozomi exchange a glance with each other, before Nozomi gently urges Umi on. Umi, with a slow nod, explains the problem with Maki and the song Cutie Panther.

Nozomi laughs behind her hand, smiling widely at Umi. "That sounds like a problem Maki-chan would have." Rin nods in agreement with a laugh as well. "That totally sounds like Maki-chan, nya!" Umi gives them a rather look of helplessness though, "I-I thought so as well, but well... I'm not sure if there's a solution to it."

Umi leans back in her seat because she understood how Maki felt. Even though Umi (technically) wrote the song, she didn't think she had the heart to perform it, or well, perform it in a... _sexy_ way. If she was in the same situation, she was sure she would have the same problem. The blue-haired lyricist watches her fellow lily white members hum and sit in quiet contemplation over the problem.

She doesn't miss how Rin grins widely and pulls out her phone. "printemps isn't busy the day BiBi is performing, right?"

* * *

"Why is no one else is here, Rin-chan?"

Rin only grins widely at the girl next to her, giving her thumbs up. "Everyone else was busy, nya! We want to support Maki-chan right?" She asks, patting Hanayo gently on the shoulder. The timid girl slowly nods in response, "Y-Yes but..." Hanayo looks around uncomfortably. It was one thing performing in front of a lot of people, but it was another being in the middle of a pack of screaming fans.

"W-We could watch from the back of the stage, couldn't we?" She asks, pulling on Rin's sleeve gently to make sure she doesn't get taken away by the hordes of fans. Rin shakes her head, crossing her arms and giving her a playful 'x' with her arms. Hanayo whimpers lightly before looking around the venue again. She swears that the 'crazier' Muse fans were at this concert... Then again, each subunit had its own crazy fans... right? She slips into silence as she tries to remember the fans at printemps' concert. They weren't bad... were they?

"R-Rin-chan, do you think there's more... outgoing fans here?" Hanayo finally asks after a moment of silence between the two of them. She unconsciously moves closer to her ginger haired best friend, narrowly dodging a couple of girls who were running forward. She starts to wonder why Rin would pick the mosh pit out of all places to watch their fellow Muse members perform.

Rin laughs as she bounces on the balls of her feet playfully, "Eli-chan and Maki-chan have a lot of crazy fans. And Nico-chan's fans... are probably as outgoing as Nico-chan. But you know." Rin raises an index finger; her face contorts into a more scared look as she remembers lily white's fans. "They're not as bad as Umi-chan's fangirls, nya..."

Hanayo just nods meekly. She's heard a couple of stories about them from Honoka and Kotori when they were together. Rin soon returns to her grin, "But don't worry, Kayo-chin! Rin will make sure Maki-chan sees you!"

The brunette blinks in confusion, "M-Maki-chan seeing me...?!" Rin slaps her shoulder gently, "You'll see, you'll see, nya!" She brushes off Hanayo's confusion with a confident grin. The two are drawn away as fans around them cheer loudly as music starts to play. "The concerts starting, nya!" Rin says excitedly, and Hanayo can't help but think that Rin was almost as energetic as the girls surrounding them.

The opening goes off without a hitch and a couple of songs in, Hanayo is cheering just as loudly as the other fans in the mosh pit. Rin can't help but grin, for a normal person who knew Hanayo casually; it was very uncharacteristic for the timid girl to be cheering loudly with the fans. But to Rin, her best friend, she knew Hanayo could go as crazy as the outgoing fans, after all, Hanayo loves idols.

The stage goes dark for a moment as they could see BiBi go off stage for a quick dress change. Rin's grin widens in anticipation, this was it. This was how they were going to make this a _great_ song. "Rin-chan?" Hanayo wheezes out, still catching her breath from the shouting and cheering from the last song. She catches a certain look Rin has, which meant that her best friend was planning something. "Ready, Kayo-chin?"

Hanayo tilts her head in confusion but is distracted when the music starts up again and the faint outline of BiBi is back on stage. She gasps lightly as the lights are back and Eli, Maki, and Nico can be seen again. "Those are the costumes that Kotori-chan made as a joke..." She whispers. Over a random sleepover (one of Honoka's _brilliant_ ideas), Kotori designed 'animal' costumes for each member of Muse. Some of the costumes proved to be... somewhat embarrassing, so she didn't think she would actually seem them at an actual concert.

Especially Maki's.

Her light purple eyes falls onto the leopard print of Maki's costume, her eyes sweeping over the bare skin of the redhead's midriff that is seen through transparent cloth and suddenly Hanayo feels her throat dry up and her cheeks warm up. Rin doesn't miss this look and can only grin evilly at what more was to come. She suddenly crashes her body against Hanayo's, wrapping her arm Hanayo's waist. "Let's cheer loudly, nya!" Rin projects her voice loudly, much louder than she does all night.

This catches a certain redhead's attention, and violet eyes fall upon Rin and Hanayo (who looks rather close at this moment). When Rin catches Maki's gaze, she laughs. This was going to work so well that Maki was going to be thanking her.

Or strangle her, but she pushes that thought to the back of her mind as she holds Hanayo closer and cheers once more. There was one last thought she has before the music goes into full blast and BiBi starts to sing and dance.

Maki was easily jealous and she hopes this brings out what was missing from this song.

* * *

 _So, so naive― With tools like that,  
There's no way you'll be able to escape  
I'm secretly setting my sights on you from behind_

"Oh my…"

"I don't get it."

At the very far back of the venue, the rest of Muse watches BiBi's concert while talking amongst them. Nozomi was grinning, knowing that Rin's plan to show Maki's sexiness was paying off. Honoka and Kotori were speechless; having their doubts about Rin's plan beforehand but now squashed as Maki started to sing on stage. Umi, however, has a flat look on her face, not understanding how the change took place.

Kotori giggles softly at the dumbfounded look on Umi's face. "Umi-chan, for someone with a lot of adoring fans, you sure don't understand anything when it comes to love and jealousy."

"H-H-Huh?!" Umi looks at her in disbelief, cheeks heating up. "T-That shouldn't have anything to do with how Maki performs!"

"Oh, Umi-chan, you'll understand one day..." Honoka sighs as she rubs the back of her head at her best friend's lack of understanding romance... Or well, her choice to not understand romance (since she could barely stand couples holding hands in public).

Nozomi has a thoughtful look on her face as they watch BiBi's performance of Cutie Panther. A sneaky grin crosses her face as she looks at the other girls, "If Maki-chan gets like that just seeing Hanayo-chan, do you think Eli-chi and Nico-chi would be the same if they saw _me_?"

Kotori only chuckles nervously and Honoka has the similar flat look Umi did before (who still doesn't understand the conversation), "In Nico-chan's words, _no way in hell_."

The purple-haired girl laughs, giving the rest of Muse a playful pout. "Awe~ you're no fun, Honoka-chan."

* * *

 _I miss you!_

Hanayo wasn't sure when her heart started to race, but she thinks she could hear it beating loudly over the music and voices of BiBi that entranced the audience. She was confused at first because Rin suddenly poured her affection on her when Cutie Panther started, but as she watched the performance... A very unfamiliar feeling was boiling inside of her.

 _I miss you!_

Especially when she notices dark, violet eyes staring at her, as if she's the only one inside the venue. There was something there that Hanayo couldn't put her finger on; it was as if Maki was trying to tell her something as she sings. She squeaks when Rin tugs her closer to her body, "Having fun, Kayo-chin?"

She barely registers the question, and manages to ask, "H-Has Maki-chan been watching us the entire time?"

Rin only grins, "Rin wonders, nya."

 _Instead of doubting, thinking it's fake, try believing in me._

At this point, Hanayo feels like her heart is going to burst and her cheeks is on fire. But she's mesmerized by the violet eyes and the voice that she's always admired way before they became school idols. Hanayo slowly finds herself slipping out of her best friend's grip (who continues grinning), and brings her hands up to cheer as loud as she can.

If Maki was trying to sing to her, she was going to give her all her support.

Rin snickers and wonders if she should bargain with Maki for a couple of bowls of ramen to thank her later.

* * *

"You're not going to stay, Rin-chan?"

Hanayo asks, blinking curiously as her best friend stands there, ready to make her escape. Rin shakes her head, holding up her phone and winking. "Rin has a lily white meeting, nya. Besides..." She can't help but snicker at her next statement. "Rin thinks Maki-chan would like to see you alone, nya."

In response, Hanayo just blushes as she remembers BiBi's Cutie Panther performance. "I-I see..." She mumbles, shyly looking at her feet on the ground. Rin laughs, patting Hanayo's shoulder. "Don't worry Kayo-chin, if it's anyone who understands Maki-chan, it'll be you!"

"Mm..." Hanayo can only nod in response, too embarrassed to say anything else. Rin's eyes look past her friend as she could hear familiar voices getting closer to where they were waiting. Rin pats Hanayo's shoulder one last time and tells her to send her an e-mail later. She dashes away, not wanting to take the chance of Maki strangling her if she sticks around.

"Hanayo!"

"O-Oh, M-M-Maki-chan..."

That was the last thing Rin hears before she turns the corner with a laugh.

* * *

Rin is almost skipping to one of her favourite Ramen Shops on the corner of the street. Since BiBi's concert ran into the evening, lily white's meeting would naturally be somewhere where they could eat and discuss their plans for their upcoming live. And because of Rin's love for Ramen, what better place to have a meeting then at one of her favourite shops.

She blinks as her phone chimes and vibrates; an incoming message? She presses the button to see what it says and can only grin.

 _Thank you._

She puts her phone away and slips into the shop, greeting the shopkeeper loudly before joining her other two unit members at a table in the corner.


End file.
